Recently the issue of child abuse has received much attention. One problem I discovered was both significant and surprising. The problem in a nutshell is this: child abuse is far more widespread than most realize, with experts estimating millions of adults were abused as children, with lasting consequences. And, surprisingly, current law is part of the problem as the law only requires "mandated reporters" who routinely deal with children to report abuse if, and only if, the abuser is the parent. Most abuse, however, is committed by non-parents, and incredibly, there's no legal requirement to report this. Recently, the state legislature began to address this problem by adding clergy to the list of required reporters and requiring all child abuse to be reported, not just parental abuse. But some groups objected because they felt this might interfere with the "privacy rights" of underage girls having sex with much older "boyfriends." The Senate and Assembly each came up with bills, but both continued the cover-up of most cases of abuse. Since they differed, none became law.

Because the state was slow to act, the Nassau legislature last year decided to enact its own legislation by adding clergy to the list of required reporters. But our legislators were unaware of the far larger problem which allowed the cover-up of child abuse by non-parents. District Attorney Denis Dillon proposed a bill to correct these defects by requiring professionals to report all child abuse, not just parental abuse. All nine Republicans indicated their support, but Presiding Officer Judith Jacobs has refused for over a year to allow the legislature to vote on Dillon's bill. I requested a meeting with legislator Craig Johnson back in the spring. Craig left me with the distinct impression he fully agreed and would work to get Jacobs to allow a vote. I also spoke with two other Democratic legislators, and they also indicated support. But six months have passed and nothing has happened. Jacobs now says it's up to the state to act, but that's not what she said last year when she pushed through her bill which corrected 1 percent of the problem. Why on earth is Jacobs refusing to deal with the other 99 percent? And, why is Craig Johnson not speaking out on this? In allowing this cover-up of child abuse, the Democrats, including Craig Johnson, have behaved badly allowing most predators to get away with, and continue, their abuse of children. We know what needs to be done - all professionals who deal with children must be required to report knowledge of child abuse by any perpetrator to the authorities so that proper action can be taken to minimize further abuse. Shame on Nassau's Democratic legislators!

Frank J. Russo, Jr.